“I’m only thinking about coaching here … I have never wanted to be someplace else.”JEFF VAN GUNDY

JVG-Ball will be around the Garden for quite a while. Jeff Van Gundy said yesterday that he’s been told by Garden president Dave Checketts that he is wanted back and that he wants to come back as coach of the Knicks next season.

“He said he wants me back and we said we’re not going to talk about it until after the season, we just have to make sure it’s the right thing for everybody, I’m sure it is,” Van Gundy said yesterday as the Knicks prepared for what could be their last game of the season tonight at the Garden against the Spurs.

The Knicks trail in The Finals 3-1 and have to win three straight to capture their first NBA championship in 26 years. Van Gundy has led the Knicks on their magical run despite several significant injuries.

The Post reported two weeks ago that Van Gundy was definitely coming back, according to a number of sources, and that he and Checketts had talked at that time and after Game 5 in Indiana and had buried the hatchet – for a change with the Knicks, that hatchet was not buried in anyone’s skull.

“I’m only thinking about coaching here,” Van Gundy said yesterday of his status. “I’ve been fortunate to be here for a long time and I have never wanted to be someplace else.”

Van Gundy has two years remaining on his contract and is owed $6 million. When Van Gundy and Checketts sit down to talk, Van Gundy will be looking to extend the deal and for more say in player personnel decisions. He has let it be known he wants to be GM as well as coach, much the same as Gregg Popovich’s situation with the Spurs. Even if that does not come about, you can expect Van Gundy to remain on the bench.

When asked about his status yesterday, Van Gundy said, “It’s not really up in the air, you know what I mean. Dave’s made it clear to me that he wants me back, that’s not the question, that’s been not really a question for two or three weeks.”

Through a spokesman yesterday, Checketts repeated that he does not want to comment on the situation until after the season, when the two have talked. Checketts also wants to talk at length about what went wrong between Van Gundy and general manager Ernie Grunfeld this season.

Once Phil Jackson dropped out of the picture, Van Gundy’s job was no longer in jeopardy. Considering Van Gundy took the Knicks to The Finals, it would be a public relations nightmare for Checketts – who was caught in the web of the Jackson lie – if he dumped Van Gundy.

“We’re not going to talk about it until after the season, what we decide to do,” Van Gundy said. “We have to make sure it’s the right thing for everybody. The only thing we’ve decided is that we are not going to talk about it until after the season. I don’t think that’s a revelation. Or I didn’t mean it to be.”

Van Gundy said there was no sense to talk about “next year when this season is still hanging. This is most important.”